The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1887-09-10
INDIA'S SIMPLE TOOLS.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ONLY PLOW
USED IN THE COUNTRY.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ONLY PLoW
USED IN THE COUNTRY.
Why the Modern Plow Cannot lsc Intro
d"ced-Cattle of India-Drillins Seed.
The Purooha and the Koorpce-Iow
Grass Is Cut.
One great fact which strikes n European
observer i'll India is the absence of tools. Not
only are steam plows, thrashimg machines,
elevators and such like modern appliances
completely unknown, hut the Indian cult.
vator Is quite unprovided with many Of the
simple tools which have been in use in
England for centuries, and which all English
laborer regards as absolute necessaries. To
begin with the most typical of agricultural
implements, the plow! 1t consists of two
pieces of wood, one long beam, which is
fastened by yoke to two bullocks; the other
ON upright attached to its foot near the beam.
SO that the beam slopes up from the ground
to the shoulders OF the oxen. The upright is
about three feet long, and is slod at the end
with thick wooden shoe pointed with iron.
This instl ument, complete. costs about o
shilling, and is practically the only plow used
i'll India. With such plow it IS, of course,
impossible to turn the earth over; the plow-
man merely scratches the ground, and thus
loosens the soil to the depth of about four
inches Between each furrow, too, a piece of
unloosenel earth must he left OH account of
the shape of the shoe, which is a wedge.
However, since oxen and plownlen both cost
very little, tho operation of plowing can be
repeated frequently, and SO finally the soil
gets fairly well moved, though not beyond q
depth of four or five inches.
INTRODUCTION OF PLows.
With regard to better plows, the govern.
ment of these provinces, tho northwest prov
ince and Oudh, does all it can to facilitate
their introduction. We have an agricultural
department which has established a model
farm Mt Cawnpore. This department has
also caused to be constructed several varieties
of light plows specially suited to the needs of
the country. These plows arc shown Mt the
fairs, which nre held every year in the pro.
vincial towns, and sometimes an enterprisinp
land owner is induced to buy one. They are
no, expensive, according to English notions.
but it is difficult to compete in price with n
pow that costs shilling.
there is still n great difficulty to overcome
Though these plows are made us light ms is
possible consistent with moderate efficiency.
only the stronger cattle are able to draw
them, so that only those who are rich enough
and far seeing enough to purchase good cattle
and feed them well, are able to Use these
plows at all. Now the immense majority of
Indian cultivators are extremely poor. and as
tN low MI
only are they content to follow the methods
as almost impiols
That the cattle in India should be DOOR is
not to be wondered at, for their food con-
Slsts almost exclusively of chopped straw and
allen leaves. 1t is hardly necessary to re-
mark that there are no chnff cutters on an
Indian peasants holding, SO all the straw
used is heavy knife, and the man or woman,
crouching on the ground, chops the straw on
block of wood.
The method of drilling seed employed about
here is extremely simple, and at the same
time ingenious A basket in the shape of all
inverted sugar loaf, with the tip cut off, is
fixed to the handle of the plow, SO as to point
directly down into the f,rrow. The peasant
dropping handfuls of seed into the basket
The tapering shape of the basket causes the
seed to drop out gradually, SO that the drill
ing is fairly even. Tho lines, however. are
not very regular, for the Indian plowmun is
not very successful in his efforts to attain q
straight furrow, nor would an English plow-
man be successful with such pillow.
PUROOHA AND KOoRPEE.
OF other agricultural or garden instruments
the two most important are tho purooha and
the koorpee The former is sort Of mattock
or short handled, big bladed hoe. The blade
is nearly as big as that Of an English spade,
and slightly crooked. Tho man stands facing
the unbrokcn ground, as in using pickax,
takes chop ut the ground. scoops up u spit
full OF earth, and swings it behind him. This
method of digging has its advantages where
the surface of the ground Is hard but for
stiff, moist ground the English spade is dis
tinctly better. a tool exactly like the purooha
is used i'll Italy for digging or hoeing among
tho vines.
The koorpee seems, in the eyes Of an Eng
lshman, to be more suited for use as a tooth
pick than as n garden tool. In shape and
size it is not unlike carpenters chiscl, but it
is used much as a garden trowel would be
used in England. An Indian gardener, as
far as l have been able to observe, seldom
digs the ground. He sits on his Launches and
prods the earth with his tiny trowel The
seme instrument is also used for cutting
grass. The grass cutter, squatting on his
launches and shuffling along, seizes with his
left hand tuft Of grass, and tears it off by
pressing it against the edge Of the koorpee
OF course, in this process good many of the
roots arc torn up, but the grass cutter does
not mind about that; the grass is sure to grow
again when the rain falls
Another method OF cutting grass is with O
sort of scythe The Indian scythe, or sword,
as it is called, is merely straight blade OF
steel, OF steel edged iron, about yard long
The mower wraps some string or cotton
round one end of the blade to form a handle
then squats on his huunches ard sashes away.
English people, as might be expected, are not
contented with these primitive methods for
cricket patches or tennis lawns, and wherever
English residents are there also are moving
machines to be found. The native method Of
cutting corn is us primitive as other Indian
agricultural methods. The sickle used is
barely one fourth Of the size of all English
sickle. Ths laborer--alwuys on his launches
takes, not nn armful, but handful Of
stalks in his hand, and saws them of with bis
sickle.-Harold Cox.
President Garfield's Protector.
"Iou doubtless arc not aware" said gen
tleman the other day, that Gen. Swain, the
late judge advocate general of the army, now
in retirement, was President Garfield's pro.